Sociology Programme of Study

A Level Sociology (AQA) – Subject to change dependent on number of teachers

Paper 1

Topic of Study & Content

INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY (Key figures, perspectives and concepts)

EDUCATION (The Role of Education)

METHODS IN CONTEXT (Experiments, Questionnaires)

EDUCATION

(Differential Achievement by Class, Gender, Ethnicity)

METHODS IN CONTEXT (Interviews, Observations, Official Statistics)

EDUCATION (Educational Policies)

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

METHODS IN CONTEXT

(Experiments, Case Studies, Personal Documents)

Paper 2

Topic of Study & Content

Papers

1&3

Topic of Study & Content

FAMILY & HOUSEHOLDS (Social Perspectives of the family)

FAMILY & HOUSEHOLDS (Social Perspectives of the family, Demography, Family Diversity)

THEORY & METHODS

(Data types, Positivism, Interpretivism, Qualitative & Quantitative methods, Sources of data)

FAMILY & HOUSEHOLDS

(Family Diversity, Changing Roles in the Family, Childhood)

THEORY & METHODS

(Practical, Ethical, Theoretical Issues, Research Design, Sampling, Pilot Studies)

FAMILY & HOUSEHOLDS (Social Policy & the Family)

● the role and functions of the education system

● differential educational achievement of social groups

● relationships and processes within schools

● the significance of educational policies

Students must be able to apply sociological research methods to the study of education.

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

● the relationship of the family to social structure / change, the economy and state policies

● changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, divorce, childbearing and the life course

● gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships within the family

● the nature of childhood, and the status of children in the family and society

● demographic trends in the United Kingdom since 1900

Students must be able to describe and evaluate

● quantitative and qualitative methods of research

THEORY & METHODS

(Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories)

Assessment

Homework assessment Based on content in this column

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Homework assessment Based on content in this column InclassJANUARY ASSESSMENTS

Homework assessment Based on content in this column

APRILMOCKS. FullPaper1exam, partialPaper2 exam.

Homework assessment Based on content in this column

● sources of data, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, documents and official statistics

● primary, secondary, quantitative and qualitative data

● the relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research

Paper 2

Topic of Study & Content

MEDIA (the new media + the role of the media in contemporary society, the media, globalisation and popular culture)

The Crypt School

Paper 3

Topic of Study & Content

CRIME& DEVIANCE

(Explaining Crime: Functionalist, strain and subcultural theories, labelling theory, Marxist, neo-Marxist and critical criminological theories, left and right realism)

CRIME& DEVIANCE

(Gender + crime, ethnicity + crime, class + crime, Media + crime, patterns + trends, Human rights, State Crime, Green Crime,)

CRIME& DEVIANCE

(crime and criminal justice, Crime control, prevention, punishment and victims)

MEDIA

(the relationship between ownership and control of the media the processes of selection and presentation of the content of the news, media representations of age, social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability)

MEDIA (the relationship between the media their content and presentation, and audiences)

Revision

StudyLeave

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

● new media

● the relationship between ownership and control of the media

● the media, globalisation and popular culture

● the processes of selection and presentation of the content of the news

● media representations of age, social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability

●the relationship between the media, their content and presentation, and audiences.

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

● crime, deviance, social order and control

● the social distribution of crime and deviance by ethnicity, gender and social class

● globalisation and crime in contemporary society

Revision StudyLeave

● crime control, surveillance, prevention and punishment, victims, and the role of the criminal justice system.

THEORY& METHODS

(Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories)

THEORY& METHODS

(Modernity and Postmodernity, the extent to which Sociology can be regarded as scientific,)

THEORY& METHODS

(The relationship between theory and methods, Subjectivity, objectivity and value freedom)

THEORY& METHODS

(Sociology and social policy)

Students must be able to describe and analyse

● the nature of ‘social facts’

● consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories

● the concepts of modernity and post-modernity

● the nature of science and the extent to which Sociology can be regarded as scientific

● the relationship between theory and methods

● debates about subjectivity, objectivity and value freedom

the relationship between Sociology and social policy.

Assessment

End of term assessment Based on content in this column NOVEMBER assessments.Full Paper1&partial Paper2exam. End of term assessment Based on content in this column

MARCHMOCKS. FullPaper2and3 exams

Informal assessment ALevel Examinations